New Orleans lawyer suspended from court for language, frivolous claims

A New Orleans lawyer who made national headlines in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by publicly defying Mayor Ray Nagin's mandatory evacuation order has been suspended for five years from representing clients in federal district court in the city.

In a decree issued Friday, the judges of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana said Ashton O'Dwyer disregarded repeated warnings to stop behaving unprofessionally. Among other misdeeds, he filed frivolous and unsupported claims, used abusive language to challenge the court's authority and misrepresented the conduct of opposing attorneys, the court said.

Under the court's disciplinary rules, complaints against lawyers can come from judges or fellow attorneys. Once a complaint is lodged, the full court, known as the "court en banc," decides whether to pursue it. If an investigation is deemed necessary, one of the judges is randomly selected to look into the matter and make findings and recommendations to the full court.

In O'Dwyer's' case, that duty fell to U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle, who recommended the suspension that was adopted by the court.

The order suspending O'Dwyer had its genesis in an April complaint in which then-Chief Judge Ginger Berrigan cited examples of what she called his "repetitive, unethical and unprofessional misconduct, which has reached an intolerable level."

The disciplinary order stipulates that after two years on total suspension, O'Dwyer, 61, will be on probationary status for three years, during which time he can ask to return to federal court practice.

To win reinstatement, the court said, O'Dwyer will have to show he has taken a number of steps, including successfully completing "stress and anger management counseling/treatment with a licensed counselor."

Reached Monday by e-mail, O'Dwyer called the punishment payback by a court system he has repeatedly challenged: "I am the victim of retaliation for deigning to aver that a federal judge and his rich and powerful friends, to whom he has handed control and management of the 'Victims of Katrina' litigation, are all CROOKED," he wrote.

He went further Tuesday, filing a motion that advertises itself as "intentionally contemptuous" and advises the judicial panel that "it may as well disbar him, forever, because he has no intention of ever complying" with the order.

For good measure, O'Dwyer added that he would submit to anger management classes "only upon the condition that each member of the court first complete 'charm school.' "

Court records show O'Dwyer has repeatedly clashed with U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval, who is presiding over civil lawsuits seeking compensation for property owners affected by breaches in the levee system during Katrina.

O'Dwyer tried unsuccessfully to get the entire court disqualified from ruling on the disciplinary charges against him, saying they were filed in retaliation for his "allegations of judicial misconduct against a 'Brother Judge.' " O'Dwyer, who says he filed the very first federal lawsuit over levee breaks in the 2005 storm, also targeted a slew of powerful defendants that he contends have subsequently hobbled his efforts to get justice for clients.

In one case, O'Dwyer accused Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice Catherine Kimball of making remarks that triggered O'Dwyer's "kidnapping" by State Police from his St. Charles Avenue mansion when the city remained largely vacant after Katrina.

O'Dwyer says the troopers took him to a makeshift jail at Union Passenger Terminal, where he was repeatedly shot in the thighs with a pellet gun, caged "like a dog" for more than 16 hours and then released from a trumped-up charge of public intoxication.

O'Dwyer also argued unsuccessfully that the whole court should be recused from disciplining him because all of the judges are defendants in a lawsuit he has filed.

The full federal court's suspension of O'Dwyer is not his first sanction this year.

On Sept. 25, Berrigan ordered O'Dwyer to stop using "any unprofessional or derogatory language" in his written filings to her court. Berrigan ticked off a list of "objectionable" words that O'Dwyer had included in paperwork filed with the court. Among them: "Louisiana Department of Injustice," "spear chucker," "human scum," "goon squad" and "vermin."

As punishment, Berrigan ordered O'Dwyer to pay $10,000 into the court registry by Oct. 31.

Susan Finch can be reached at sfinch@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3340.